Ceropegia simplex (Schltr.) Bruyns

Bruyns, Peter V., Klak, Cornelia & Hanáček, Pavel, 2018, An account of Ceropegia sect. Chamaesiphon (Apocynaceae) in Moçambique with new records and two new species, Phytotaxa 364 (2), pp. 111-135 : 128-130

Ceropegia simplex (Schltr.) Bruyns ( Figs. 17 , 18 )

Described from material collected in February 1898 near Inhambane in southern Moçambique by Rudolf Schlechter, this species was not recorded again until the present exploration showed that it is widespread in Moçambique. It was found in four separate localities ranging over a distance of more than 800 km from close to the border with Tanzania in the north to near Pomene ( Fig. 17 ), not far from where Schlechter originally collected it.

In the north (Bruyns 8626) C. simplex grew on white sand under Pterocarpus angolensis (kiaat) trees with C. albipilosa and other geophytes. North of Lioma (Bruyns 7728) plants were found under trees in shallow soil with other geophytes and C. gracilidens . Near Pomene (Bruyns 9755) C. simplex was seen in pale orange sand under low Brachystegia -trees (only 2–4 m tall) with several succulents including Ceropegia ampliata , C. sandersonii and Cynanchum viminale .

Ceropegia simplex has not been collected in neighbouring Zimbabwe (Percy-Lancaster, 1997), nor was it recorded in tropical Africa by Bullock (1963). Schlechter (1905) stated that C. simplex differed from all relatives by the erect, unbranched stem and the corona which clearly exceeded the gynostegium. Among his sketches of C. simplex , his Fig. 5 E showed the bowl-like corona consisting of apparently ± rectangular outer lobes a little broader than tall, with deep, narrow incisions between them. As one can see from the present Fig. 18 of C. simplex , these incisions lie opposite the guide-rails and correspond to the divisions that make the outer lobes bifid in species such as C. circinata (see Figs. 8 , 10 ). This structure is similar to that in C. cupulata but that species differs by the more branched stem with leaves more densely clustered, the lack of hairs towards the margins of the lobes and their bases and the lack of the incision into each outer coronal lobe, which then forms a ± entire cup.Although C. simplex was not included in Bruyns & al. (2015), on account of the similar cupular coronal structure to C. cupulata it is also likely to belong to the ‘Kalahari-group’.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Ceropegia albipilosa. A, side view of flower (scale of B = 1 mm); B, side view of dissected flower (scale 1 mm); C, face view of gynostegium (scale of B = 1 mm); D, pollinarium (scale of B = 0.25 mm). Drawn from: Bruyns 8627 (BOL, E).

FIGURE 8. Ceropegia circinata. A, portion of plant with inflorescence (scale 4 mm); B, side view of flower (scale of A = 4 mm); C, side view of centre of dissected flower (scale 1 mm); D, pollinarium (scale of C = 0.25 mm). Drawn from: Bruyns 8604 (BOL, K, MO).

FIGURE 10. Ceropegia circinata (with smaller flowers).A, plant (scale 10 mm); B, portion of plant with inflorescence (scale 2 mm); C, D, side view of flower (scale 2 mm at D); E, side view of centre of dissected flower (scale 1 mm); F, pollinarium (scale 0.25 mm). Drawn from:A, B, C, E, Bruyns 9743 (BOL); D, F, Bruyns 7698 (BOL).

FIGURE 17. Known distribution of Ceropegia simplex.

FIGURE 18. Ceropegia simplex. A, oblique view of flower (scale 2 mm); B, side view of dissected flower (scale of A = 2 mm); C, side view of centre of dissected flower (scale 1 mm); D, oblique view of gynostegium (scale 1 mm); E, pollinarium (scale of C = 0.25 mm). Drawn from:A, C, Bruyns 8626 (BOL); B, D, E, Bruyns 7712 (BOL).